Thanks Poohbear its good to be back! I hope I can apply some of your determination to my training in the coming year.

Yvonne hope the 6 miles goes well and you aren't too red faced at the end.

Good 10 miles for me this morning. Best long run I have had for ages felt strong all the way through and it didnt make me ill this time! It took 1 hr 40 which was my initial target for the Great South Run in October so Im now going to aim for a faster target. I havent decided what but if I can do 1hr 40 now then im hoping with all the work I plan to put in between now and the end of October I might be able to get nearer 1hr 35 or 1hr 30 but Im not pressuring myself with targets too much the main aim is just to finish knowing I did my best.

Had a good day volunteering for my charity yesterday, now off to walk the dog before relaxing. Happy Running Everyone

Tillstar is great that you are now feeling so much better when you are running. I would suggest that you will easily beat your 1hr 40 min goal in October if you are already able to run that now in a training run. Just see how your training comes on over the next few months before deciding on a goal time as you may surprise yourself!

14.28 miles for me today, slightly longer then planned but it was lovely out there. As I am aiming for 8.50 - 9.00 min/mile goal for Chester Marathon in October I decided to really focus on my pacing today as I always run my LSR too fast, and I managed to run consistently and slowly for the entire time with my pacing of 9.45 min/mile, so very happy for now

Run done in lovely weather this morning ...its not looking to great out there now.... face wasnt too red, although, my face goes red on every run, it always has done, looks like ive ran in the heat of 50 degrees i must just get super heated that the old blood has to get to the surface of my skin asap to cool down!!

6 Miles in 1 hour 5 mins now she has a bench mark and she will try to improve that time each time we go out for a run..

had an enjoyable 5 mile run yesterday with toby and poohbear ...in a min im off out for a 6 miler with my daughter she wants to see how fast she is over that distance as im entering us in a 10km in june so i may come back very red in the face but i will keep up with her .....

Oooh that is weird Yvonne it obviously liked what you said so much it decided we needed to hear it again

Lisa thanks for the encouragement, that sounds like a good plan, cheers.

Question for you and anyone else, in order to get faster should I run my long runs aiming to do them at a faster pace if I can e.g. today averaged 10 min miles should I try and average under 10 min miles next week or do the long run slower? I had gone out aiming for 10'20 pace today but not one mile managed that ranging 9'45 to 10'15. I apologise for asking a question I should already know the answer to but I'm after advice on the best way to progress and get faster and most if not all of u are more experienced than me so your advice would be appreciated confused whether it is better to try and up the pace or do the long runs slower rule

tillstar i have been reading different marathon training books and each one gives different advice ..... some advocate 3 runs a week a long run threshold and lap training all at a fast pace as to run fast you have to train fast its about quality not quantity .... others say long slow runs .... to be honest its left me confused ..... i think a plan has to fit in with your life then your most likely to be able to give it your all ....i will say though that i will devote a run a week to do what toby said he did to increase his pace and that is to run with every mile starting with a 9 so whether thats 9:46 or 9:59 until every mile is comfortable and your running further then go down to 8 something pace and run further at that pace each time ...i hope ive explained it right toby if not correct me ...

Tillstar, as has been pointed out to me on several occasions, that's the whole point of these forums, to be able to ask anything and get a variety of opinions all aimed at supporting each other in our aims to enjoy and improve our running.

basically, your long run is not always the best place to improve your speed, tally should really be taking place in your midweek runs. You ideally would aim to do one or two speed sessions in a week, if two you would look to do a tempo run (anything from 2-5miles at a pace you can maintain consistently but is faster than your normal running speed, at the end of this you should not feel able to go on any further) the other can either be track or time intervals or hill sprints. The aim of these speed sessions is to get your legs used to moving faster and running while they are tired. This way when you start to increase your longer run pace you have already trained your legs to cope with it. For most of us with work, kids an everything else in ur lives, two speed sessions a week is challenging but as Yvonne says it's all about finding what works for you.

having said all this, if you are finding your long run pace easy then an increase in pace will be easier. Based on your long run today it sounds as though you are aiming to run too slow for your ability. Increasing your pace should be a steady thing so your body has time to adapt to the changes you are putting in place.

Thanks Yvonne I found the conflicting advice in the different books confusing too.

Thank you Andrew that's really helpful. I don't really get the chance for a mid week long run at the moment as my PT has me working on Fartlek and HIIT in the week but I guess that helps too and I don't have him for much longer after which I will still keep one day for speed work then but swap the others for a tempo and a MWLR then. I don't have any commitments on my time other than my 9-5job job so should be able to fit them in ok. Thanks for the advice and explaining why they help.

Also thanks for the advice about my goal pace. I think you are right and am going to up it and shoot for a faster time. I may not make it but I have 11 months to work on maintaining it for a long run and if I don't make it then I can fall back to the original goal time or failing that the goal of just finishing. I can be determined when I have something to work towards and it will make me work harder in the coming months. If I stick with the pace I can comfortably do now it may be too easy in the wet cold winter days to be lazy if I have a harder target to reach I'm going to want to work 100% to get there so if I don't quite get there I can be happy knowing I couldn't have done more. Thanks again

Tillstar, something I have started doing with some of my long runs is running the first half of my long runs at 1 min mile slower than MP, and then the second half at MP. That way you're not tiring yourself out so much but you're getting your body used to running at MP and by doing it in the second half of your long run, you're also getting used to running at MP on tired legs.

Toby just go steady and listen to your body .... don't forget rule of thumb if it's above your neck run but take it easy and stop if your finding even a recovery run is hard ...in your chest and limbs rest up ...take care you've been doing lots of running of late it does not hurt to have a few days off ..

Till star I guess the thing is not all training plans and ways of going about your training and what you do ie hill runs ,tempo,intervals,long slow runs or long faster no runs etc are not going to suit everyone ,experimenting with how you recover from your training runs are key ...we do have a bit of time to get a training plan sorted with what we hope will get us round in our desired time and also fits in with life ...

Tillstar I would echo what Barbie has suggested. Once a month run your LSR at part MP and part LSR pace, so for example if your LSR is 14 miles run 3 miles at MP + 1 min/mile, then run 8 miles at MP and finish with another 3 miles at MP + 1 min per mile. This way you get used to running at the pace you want to complete the marathon in, but are not too shattered that you end up not being able to complete your other training runs in the week.

The other run that is really important to increase your overall speed is your tempo run or lactate threshold run depending on what plan you follow - so you run at a pace that you can just hold for 4-6 miles, it will feel tough but not all out vomit inducing as it will be below your lactate threshold .

Vomit inducing runs which are generally VO2 max is generally interval training. Not necessary for marathon training (marathon is endurance, and speed endurance) but useful training for 5k and to a lesser extent 10k races.

Can you tell that I have read too many running books, articles magazines etc

Toby I agree with Yvonne, listen to your body and take the rest if u need it, don't over do it.

Thanks for the advice everyone, really appreciate it. This forum has helped me so many times. I owe my running improvements and my confidence to go for the dream of completing this marathon to you all.

Would the following sound like a good plan for when I finish with my PT? (Sorry for more questions) 2 threshold being 1 warm up 3 tempo 1 cool down, 1 mwlr 6_8 (possibly up to 10 if I have time), 1 long 2-3 hrs with some at mp as suggested. 1 rest day, a recovery run and the final day being strength, cross train, Fartlek or rest depending on what you think is best and how my body feels.

4 mile run with my daughter tonight ,she upped the pace slightly feel it in my legs now ....10.23 all uphill and wind in our face for first mile, second mile 9.45 on road ,third mile 9.59 on trail, last mile 9.48 back on the road....kept up with the jack rabbit ....she had stitch again bless her....she runs with her right hand constantly pressed into her right side just below her ribs ...she has upped her fluid intake and drinks a high 5 tab in a litre of water every day as well as plain water....still at a loss as to what is causing it on every run ...

Tillstar, I would agree with Lisa, the tempo is more important. I'm kinda in 10k mode at the moment hence the intetrial training. Having said that, if you do fancy a go at some intervals for marathon training I'd look at time based ones. 4 sets of 4-6 mins quick with a two min recovery. looking at your suggested training plan, bust be sure to vary things a little, if your planning on increasing your lsr pace during those runs, maybe drop one midweek threshold run in favour of a steady 5-7 miles. Maybe Mix in some timed intervals or hill repeats. Don't let yourself get too stuck doing he same thing week after week, it's good to keep the legs guessing a little and not let yourself get bored after week 10 of the same! Yvonne is spot on in saying its about experimenting and finding what works for you. I've spent years just running at the same pace in my runs and similar distances other than long runs, it's only recently I've started experimenting more to try and get some better results.

yvonne, I'm sure your daughter has tried this but when I get a stitcI on a run ill slow slightly and focus hard on breathing deeply in through my nose and our through my mouth. Takes a few mins but seems to work (I also push may hand into the ribs as she does)

Tempo run for me this eve, splits of 7.02, 6.42, 7.18, 7.22 second mile ws with the wind at my back, mile 3 was running back into the wind and I stopped running at pace at 3.5 hence the diffence in time. rest day tomorrow

well never got out for a run yesterday over slept and then by the time i got back from my weight watchers meeting had a shower i just had enough time to eat dinner before i had to be in work for a training course so another 12.5 hour night for me last night

cold not getting any better so i have a feeling there will be no running this week just resting up but will see how i feel when i get up

After a 3 weeks running break I restarted my training yesterday with a 5k jog. Today I have a 9k jog scheduled. I used the my.asics website to have the plan created. The first target is the Swiss City Marathon Lucerne on October 27.

The problem with my.asics is that it gives you max 4 runs/wek. Therefore, later in the training cycle I intend to add some days with long intervalls.

Gym personal training session for me tonight and I'm looking forward to it. Now I have a goal of working towards a pace I can't yet do easily I'm looking forward to working hard to see improvements and feel I am achieving something

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